Thymol feed supplementation in quail alters the percentages of nutritionally relevant egg yolk fatty acids: effects throughout incubation

FERNANDEZ, MARIA E; MARIN, RAUL H; LUNA, AGUSTIN; ZUNINO, MARIA P; LABAQUE, MARIA C

JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE

JOHN WILEY & SONS LTD

Lugar: LOndres; Año: 2017 vol. 97 p. 5233 - 5240

0022-5142

BACKGROUND PUFA are crucial components of the yolk and particularly prone to oxidative damage generating losses of nutrients for embryonic development and influencing the quality of eggs for human consumption. We evaluated whether dietary thymol (a natural antioxidant) is related to changes in quail egg yolk total, triglycerides and phospholipids fatty acid composition (T, TG, PL, respectively) at different stages of embryo development. Thus, female Japanese quail (100d) were assigned to 1 of 2 dietary treatments (12 individuals each): CON (basal diet) or THY (0.0016 mol of thymol day−1 animal−1). After 2 weeks of supplementation, eggs were incubated and samples were obtained at 0, 4 and 16d of embryonic development.RESULTS In 0d-THY-eggs, alpha-linolenic acid and n-3 PUFA in T and TG, docosahexaenoic acid and PUFA in T, and arachidonic acid in TG were increased, while SFA in T was reduced. From 4d on, PUFA, n-3 PUFA and SFA from T and TG in THY-eggs, were found similar to CON-eggs. The changes in PL throughout incubation were similar in both dietary treatments.CONCLUSION Thymol would provide the embryo with PUFA for synthesis/deposition in membranes and/or derive to supply energy. Additionally, thymol supplementation would be advisable for the production of healthier table-eggs.